From the Principal
Dear Parents,
I pray you’ve had a wonderful week.
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about making good decisions. It sounds obvious, but the decisions that we make actually dictate our lives. Whilst our environment, upbringing, surroundings and even luck all play a part in how our lives are shaped, ultimately it is our choices that are the great determiner. I loved what our Chaplain Ethan said in Chapel this morning, that we have to have our (spiritual) ears attentive to what God wants to say to us. Praying and asking for His guidance when making decisions and asking for strength to make good choices is crucial.
As parents and educators we have to consistently help our kids to make choices that line up with their values and goals. Teaching them to weigh the potential consequences of their actions, seek advice when needed, and consider the perspectives of others cultivates resilience and empathy. Additionally, promoting open communication and providing a supportive environment where young people feel comfortable expressing their thoughts and concerns enables them to navigate challenges more effectively. Spoon feeding every decision to them, does not create independence nor an ability to make good choices. Instead, giving them the tools to make good choices is the key.
Uniform update:
My thanks to all of you for your support in ensuring that your children are in the correct uniform. The wearing of school uniform correctly promotes a sense of belonging for students and creates a positive identity for the school community. Students realise that they are all equal in front of the school. The full uniform requirements have been sent to you both in the welcome letter at the start of the year and in the parent handbook which was sent out in the Week 1 newsletter, please go over them if you need to.
Enrolment update:
As many of you are aware, our school is currently going through a season of unprecedented demand from an enrolment perspective. We currently have several classes with significant wait lists. We have also had huge interest in Kindergarten 2025. If you know of anyone who is planning on enrolling in 2025, can you please let them know to contact the school as soon as possible, so that we can accommodate them. Mrs Fyvie has a list of siblings, so this is not as crucial. I am more referring to friends, people from church, cousins, etc.
Thank you:
To Joshua Dening in Year 4, who has organised to collect all of the juice boxes from our lunch orders and then take them to Return and Earn. Then give the money to the school to give to charity. It is wonderful to see the way he is taking his own initiative.
Chess club:
A special congratulations to our Chess club this week for their wonderful behaviour and engagement. We have had the pleasure of having a specialist coach come in from the Sydney Academy of Chess, and by all reports from our students it has been fantastic.
My door is always open,
Joe Britton
Lunch Orders
Our Term 1 Lunch Orders are open! Thank you again to Georgette and her team for providing this service to our school community.
Lunch orders will take place every second Friday for Term1, starting Friday the 9th of February 2024.
Please see below the menu and associated links for you to order lunches.
23 February: Chicken, Lettuce and Mayo Wrap, with or without a drink (Click here)
8 March: Ham, Cheese and Tomato Sandwich with a small Fruit Cup, with or without a drink (Click here)
22 March: Hamburger with Tomato sauce, Lettuce and Tomato, with or without a drink (Click here)
5 April: Chicken Pasta Salad with Peas, Corn, Carrots and Mayo, with or without a drink (Click here)
If you would like to volunteer for 90 min on a Friday to help with the lunch orders please contact Mrs Jordaan to sign up.
All of the information will be placed in the newsletters as well for your convenience.
A reminder our orders close on Thursdays at 11am.
If you have any questions, please email or speak with Mrs Jordaan (pa@hpcs.nsw.edu.au).
Our 2024 Student Leaders.
Each week we will introduce one of our four sets of captains:
- School captains
- Vice school captains
- Co-curricular captains
- Christian Service captains
This week we are pleased to introduce our two school captains: Jonathan Koutellou and Lovee Santos. We asked them a few questions and these were their answers:
Question 1:What makes you happy?
– My happiness comes from the things I do. I enjoy fishing and many other outdoor activities e.g. bike riding, soccer, athletics and tennis.
Question 2: What is the ickiest thing you’ve ever eaten?
– Well the ickiest thing I have ever eaten is a live oyster which I was dared by my brother. It was so gross.
Question 3: How would you describe a perfect day for yourself?
– Morning: Go to the shops for soccer accessories
– Lunch: Eat my favourite food (Lamb chops)
– Arvo: Go fishing with my dad
Question 4: What is one thing you would like to do at school in your leadership role?
– I would like younger children to look up to me as a role model and I would like to suggest new ideas about sport equipment.
Question 1: What makes you happy?
– One of the best things that makes me smile is my friends and family.
Question 2: What is the ickiest thing you’ve ever eaten?
– Tomatoes, I like ketchup though.
Question 3: How would you describe a perfect day for yourself?
– Just a sunny day with family and friends.
Question 4: What is one thing you would like to do at school in your leadership role?
– As vice captain, I want to set an example for little kids.
How well do you know HPCS?
Across:
2. What is the name of our male School Captain?
3. What is the second value in our school motto? and ____
5. Where do you have to sit when you get to school early?
6. Which class will you learn to keep a beat in?
9. Where can you get a hot chocolate at school?
12. Which staff member has been with the school the longest? Mrs ____
Down:
1. What was the school called when it started in 1980? ____ Christian School.
4. What do we call the historical house on the property?
7. What is the first value in our school motto? In____
8. What subject does Ps Ethan teach?
9. What happens every Friday morning?
10. How many staff members attended HPCS as students?
11. What animal is the box in the tree on the playground for?
- The answers will be posted in next week’s newsletter.
Lost property.
Please ensure that all your children’s belongings are clearly marked with their names, in order to check the lost property basket for any items that can be returned to the students.
We have a number of personal items left after the swimming carnival, including a piece of jewelry. Please enquire about these at the front desk.
We are the Winners!
A huge congratulations to our students from Years, 4,5, & 6 who took part in the Renaissance myON reading competition late last year. Mr. Kelly registered our school with the program and encouraged everyone to read from the myON library of ebooks. We have been notified that HopePoint Christian School were the national winners! Our students read more books and logged more reading minutes than any other school in the country! For this fantastic effort our school has been awarded an $800 Booktopia voucher as well as $500 worth of purchase points with Renaissance!
Students of the Week
Congratulations to the following students for receiving Merit Awards this week:
Kindergarten – S
JJ Tuiala for working hard in all learning tasks!
Elizabeth Atayan for creating “AB” patterns in Maths!
Kindergarten – G
Bernice Umahonlen for being a great helper in class.
Annabella Jordaan for being an honest and respectful student.
Year 1
Ava Solomon for consistently striving to do her best!
Christian Everett for his active involvement in History.
Benjamin Taulani for always being willing to give things a go.
Year 2
Julia Akalezi for demonstrating outstanding dedication when writing compound sentences.
Xavier Gomez for accomplishing complex mathematical task with precision and skill.
Year 3
Joseph Coorey for challenging himself in Maths warm ups.
Nathaniel Ma for creating character descriptions using adjectives.
Naiya Abdulbaki for listening to teacher instructions attentively .
Year 4
Emily Grajales for showing consistent dedication in her learning.
Lilia Abdulbaki for her wonderful observations when predicting texts.
Boaz Kaufmann for sharing his thoughtful ideas and answers in class.
Year 5
Bryan Schreiner for a brilliant display of soccer skills in Sport!
Gustavo Orofino for a fantastic effort in Spelling!
Meyana-Miracle Nau for outstanding effort in English!
Year 6
Nomuna Tserentogtokh for an outstanding job in her spelling test.
Jonathan Koutellou for displaying great efficiency in mathematics.
Pen Licenses
* Dylan Lemelia
* Agatha Lima Da Silva
* Ellena Tuivuya
* Maria Luiza Goncalves Ribeiro
Save the Dates: Upcoming Dates
23 February: Year 6 Chapel
26 February: Zone Swimming Carnival
1 March: Year 3 Chapel
8 March: Year 2 Chapel
15 March: Kindergarten S Chapel
22 March: Kindergarten G Chapel
28 March: Easter Chapel
28 March: Easter Hat parade
5 April: Year 6 Chapel
12 April: Year 5 Chapel
12 April: End of term 1